Requesting The Admin Hearing From The DMV Or The Driver’s License Bureau

How Many Days Does A Person Have To Request An Administrative Hearing From The DMV Or The Driver’s License Bureau?

In Utah, they have 10 days to request a hearing with the Driver’s License Division; 10 days from the date of the citation. That’s 10 straight days; not just business days. A lot of people get themselves in trouble just on that issue alone. They’ll think that weekends or holidays don’t count but they in fact actually do.

What Happens If Someone Decides Not To Request The Admin Hearing Or Misses It?

In that case, if someone doesn’t request it within the 10 days, then the Drivers License Division will go ahead and suspend their license automatically and they will lose out on the opportunity to get their impound fee back.

When you get arrested for DUI, the officers always impound the vehicle. At least 99 per cent of them will impound the vehicle. To get the vehicle released, you have to go and pay an administrative impound fee of $350. The way to normally get that back is if you requested the hearing within the 10 days and you went to the hearing and you prevailed, then you could not only get your license back but you could get $350 refunded back to you.

When you don’t request a hearing, you don’t go to the hearing. You’re automatically going to be suspended and it depends on if it’s a first offense or a refusal or a subsequent offense. You will lose it for a period of time they believe you should lose it for, and then you’ll miss out on that administrative $350 fee being refunded.

Can Someone Ever Win At The Admin Hearing?

Yes. They definitely can win but it’s some work. You have to have a DUI attorney, someone who’s trained that does a lot of these hearings because they have the experience, they know the little issues, the little nuances in the law, in the procedures that have to be followed in order for the driver’s license division to take the license.

There are certain nuances and tricks that apply at the drivers’ license division that will not work over a court on a normal criminal case.

For example, you should know that the officer’s supposed to read the DUI Admonition, which is a warning that you’re placed under arrest for DUI and we’re going to ask you to submit to the chemical test and if there are certain things in your system and it’s over the limit, we’re going to take your license. That’s a warning they have to read and then they give the test.

In case the officer reads the DUI admonition after he took the test, after the driver gave him the sample, that means he did that procedure backwards. If you don’t have an attorney who is doing this every day, who is scrutinizing these reports, you wouldn’t know that this simple thing can result in the driver keeping his license, even if it’s just a couple of minutes off.

So, those hearings can definitely be won but even if you do lose with the regular administrative hearing, they can be appealed within the driver’s license division, it’s called an administrative appeal. So you need the DUI attorney, someone who works in it every day to figure those out.

If you need more information about the Admin Hearing In Utah, call the law office of Attorney Matthew Nebeker for a free initial consultation at (801) 309-6966 and get the information and legal answers you’re seeking.